Language:
English
Year of publication:
1993
Titel der Quelle:
ELH - English Literary History
Angaben zur Quelle:
60,3 (1993) 733-758
Keywords:
Eliot, George,
Abstract:
Examines the themes of feminism and proto-Zionism in Eliot's novel. The latter subject is considered within the context of Jewish aspirations in the 1870s, before the development of the Zionist movement. States that popular British proto-Zionism ran counter to the desires of the Jews, contained elements of blatant antisemitism, and was used to further British imperial self-interest. The proto-Zionist impulse of "Daniel Deronda" reveals a continuity with an imperialist ideology, a belief in white superiority over dark races, and a certain distaste for the Jews. Points to negative stereotypes in Eliot's descriptions of the Jews in the novel; she by no means idealizes Jews, but only the "refined" Jew. The novel's aim is to achieve the refinement of the Jews and restore them to their proper place (outside of Britain).
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